Perhaps the trend that is having the greatest influence on the adoption of AR/VR/MR platforms is not the affordability or stability of the technology but the commitment by today’s leading corporations to embrace Digital Transformation (DX). Rather than utilizing technologies simply to streamline and automate existing business processes and transactions, digital transformation means utilizing technological innovation such AR/VR/MR to change the very way business is conducted, resulting in new business models and cultures.

DX has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the performance of companies that have pursued this strategy. In fact, in some instances it has resulted in a winner take all scenario. According to Constellation Research Founder and Principal Analyst Ray Wang, “digital leaders in almost every industry are taking 40% to 70% of the overall market share and 23% to 57% of profits. In some markets, if there are one or two major players, they are taking up to 77% of the profits”.

These findings suggest that DX could lead to a “zero-sum” game for selected field service providers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that businesses across a wide range of industry segments are investing heavily in DX technologies. Indeed, worldwide spending on DX is estimated to approach $1.2 trillion by 2017 year-end, according to International Data Corporation, an increase of 17.8% over 2016. IDC predicts this market will continue to grow at a steady rate of 17.9% over the next three years, reaching $2.0 trillion by 2020.

Most business experts and industry pundits agree that DX investments have the greatest impact on a company’s performance when they achieve two major objectives. First, they make business operations more responsive by leveraging digitally connected product-service offerings, people, and assets. Second, they lead to innovations that transform how customers, partners, employees, and things communicate with each other. For field service organizations, the outcome of meeting these objectives incudes a more enabled workforce, enhanced customer experience, and improved overall collaboration and performance.

Clearly, AR/VR/MR technology is well suited to meet these objectives and deliver outcomes. At a macro level, it changes the way field service business is conducted, by bringing a problem to the expert rather than the other way around. As a result, it shortens the time it takes to resolve a customer’s issue and avoids the high costs associated with sending a technician to the customer site. In addition, it helps FSOs overcome resource constraints. For example, utilizing this technology, a technician at a customer site can simultaneously offer remote support to a second customer at another location. Furthermore, the technology facilitates greater collaboration and performance among technicians. A “top-gun” technician with deep domain knowledge and expertise can provide remote guidance to a less experienced, “novice” engineer. Technicians can also use annotations as part of AR sessions to overcome language barriers that may exist between people in different geographic regions. Lastly, AR/VR/MR provides an immersive experience to the customer, enhancing their experience and enabling them to be self-reliant when it comes to resolving basic issues.

DX has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the performance of companies that have pursued this strategy.

In many ways, AR/VR/MR pushes the boundaries of possibilities when it comes to providing high quality and efficient services and support to end customers. By overcoming limitations, FSOs experience improved performance in the areas of first time fix, remote call resolution rates, mean time to repair, and cost per service call. While effective field service leaders have always been committed to continuously improving performance in these areas, AR/VR/MR provides the technology to make step-wise (e.g., exponential) improvements as opposed to only incremental gains.

AR/VR/MR brings additional value in its ability to positively influence and enhance customer satisfaction as well as generate new and profitable sources of revenue for FSOs. For example, many early FSO adopters have been able to monetize their investment in this technology by offering AR/VR/MR enabled remote support sessions as a value-added, fee-based service to customers. These examples clearly demonstrate why FSOs should give serious consideration to deploying an AR/VR/MR solution today.

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I am an author, speaker, consultant and coach. My mission is to help service professionals and business executives gain access to the latest and greatest strategies, tools, and insights about service management so that they can increase sales, boost profits, and delight their customers. I cover issues ranging from sales and marketing, to technology, to leadership and operational excellence.

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